10 research outputs found
Simulation of position sensitivity of the anomalous Hall effect on a single magnetic dot
To overcome the superparamagnetic effect caused by scaling bit and grain sizes in magnetic storage media different approaches are investigated. One alternative is bit patterned magnetic media (BPM) where each bit is represented by a single domain magnetic dot. A key problem with BPM is the large difference in magnetic field necessary to switch the magnetization direction of the various dot which is characterized by the switching field distribution
Polarized Plasmonic Enhancement by Au Nanostructures Probed through Raman Scattering of Suspended Graphene
We characterize plasmonic enhancement in a hotspot between two Au nanodisks
using Raman scattering of graphene. Single layer graphene is suspended across
the dimer cavity and provides an ideal two-dimensional test material for the
local near-field distribution. We detect a Raman enhancement of the order of
103 originating from the cavity. Spatially resolved Raman measurements reveal
a near-field localization one order of magnitude smaller than the wavelength
of the excitation, which can be turned off by rotating the polarization of the
excitation. The suspended graphene is under tensile strain. The resulting
phonon mode softening allows for a clear identification of the enhanced signal
compared to unperturbed graphene
Atomically thin boron nitride: a tunnelling barrier for graphene devices
We investigate the electronic properties of heterostructures based on
ultrathin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) crystalline layers sandwiched between
two layers of graphene as well as other conducting materials (graphite, gold).
The tunnel conductance depends exponentially on the number of h-BN atomic
layers, down to a monolayer thickness. Exponential behaviour of I-V
characteristics for graphene/BN/graphene and graphite/BN/graphite devices is
determined mainly by the changes in the density of states with bias voltage in
the electrodes. Conductive atomic force microscopy scans across h-BN terraces
of different thickness reveal a high level of uniformity in the tunnel current.
Our results demonstrate that atomically thin h-BN acts as a defect-free
dielectric with a high breakdown field; it offers great potential for
applications in tunnel devices and in field-effect transistors with a high
carrier density in the conducting channel.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Evaluating arbitrary strain configurations and doping in graphene with Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterizing the local properties
of graphene. Here, we introduce a method for evaluating unknown strain
configurations and simultaneous doping. It relies on separating the effects of
hydrostatic strain (peak shift) and shear strain (peak splitting) on the Raman
spectrum of graphene. The peak shifts from hydrostatic strain and doping are
separated with a correlation analysis of the 2D and G frequencies. This enables
us to obtain the local hydrostatic strain, shear strain and doping without any
assumption on the strain configuration prior to the analysis. We demonstrate
our approach for two model cases: Graphene under uniaxial stress on a PMMA
substrate and graphene suspended on nanostructures that induce an unknown
strain configuration. We measured for pure hydrostatic strain. Raman scattering with circular
corotating polarization is ideal for analyzing strain and doping, especially
for weak strain when the peak splitting by shear strain cannot be resolved
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of graphene
Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) exploits surface plasmons induced by
the incident field in metallic nanostructures to significantly increase the
Raman intensity. Graphene provides the ideal prototype two dimensional (2d)
test material to investigate SERS. Its Raman spectrum is well known, graphene
samples are entirely reproducible, height controllable down to the atomic
scale, and can be made virtually defect-free. We report SERS from graphene, by
depositing arrays of Au particles of well defined dimensions on
graphene/SiO(300nm)/Si. We detect significant enhancements at 633nm. To
elucidate the physics of SERS, we develop a quantitative analytical and
numerical theory. The 2d nature of graphene allows for a closed-form
description of the Raman enhancement. This scales with the nanoparticle cross
section, the fourth power of the Mie enhancement, and is inversely proportional
to the tenth power of the separation between graphene and the nanoparticle. One
consequence is that metallic nanodisks are an ideal embodiment for SERS in 2d
Plasmon-induced nanoscale quantised conductance filaments
AbstractPlasmon-induced phenomena have recently attracted considerable attention. At the same time, relatively little research has been conducted on electrochemistry mediated by plasmon excitations. Here we report plasmon-induced formation of nanoscale quantized conductance filaments within metal-insulator-metal heterostructures. Plasmon-enhanced electromagnetic fields in an array of gold nanodots provide a straightforward means of forming conductive CrOx bridges across a thin native chromium oxide barrier between the nanodots and an underlying metallic Cr layer. The existence of these nanoscale conducting filaments is verified by transmission electron microscopy and contact resistance measurements. Their conductance was interrogated optically, revealing quantised relative transmission of light through the heterostructures across a wavelength range of 1–12 μm. Such plasmon-induced electrochemical processes open up new possibilities for the development of scalable devices governed by light.</jats:p
Body Mass Index Is Inversely Associated with Risk of Postmenopausal Interval Breast Cancer: Results from the Women’s Health Initiative
Interval breast cancer refers to cancer diagnosed after a negative screening mammogram and before the next scheduled screening mammogram. Interval breast cancer has worse prognosis than screening-detected cancer. Body mass index (BMI) influences the accuracy of mammography and overall postmenopausal breast cancer risk, yet how is obesity associated with postmenopausal interval breast cancer incidence is unclear. The current study included cancer-free postmenopausal women aged 50–79 years at enrollment in the Women’s Health Initiative who were diagnosed with breast cancer during follow-up. Analyses include 324 interval breast cancer cases diagnosed within one year after the participant’s last negative screening mammogram and 1969 screening-detected breast cancer patients. Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) was measured at baseline. Associations between obesity and incidence of interval cancer were determined by sequential logistic regression analyses. In multivariable-adjusted models, obesity was inversely associated with interval breast cancer risk [OR (95% CI) = 0.65 (0.46, 0.92)]. The inverse association persisted after excluding women diagnosed within 2 years [OR (95% CI) = 0.60 (0.42, 0.87)] or 4 years [OR (95% CI) = 0.56 (0.37, 0.86)] of enrollment, suggesting consistency of the association regardless of screening practices prior to trial entry. These findings warrant confirmation in studies with body composition measures
Polarized Plasmonic Enhancement by Au Nanostructures Probed through Raman Scattering of Suspended Graphene
We characterize plasmonic enhancement in a hotspot between
two
Au nanodisks using Raman scattering of graphene. Single layer graphene
is suspended across the dimer cavity and provides an ideal two-dimensional
test material for the local near-field distribution. We detect a Raman
enhancement of the order of 10<sup>3</sup> originating from the cavity.
Spatially resolved Raman measurements reveal a near-field localization
one order of magnitude smaller than the wavelength of the excitation,
which can be turned off by rotating the polarization of the excitation.
The suspended graphene is under tensile strain. The resulting phonon
mode softening allows for a clear identification of the enhanced signal
compared to unperturbed graphene
Graphene-based liquid crystal device
Graphene is only one atom thick, optically transparent, chemically inert and
an excellent conductor. These properties seem to make this material an
excellent candidate for applications in various photonic devices that require
conducting but transparent thin films. In this letter we demonstrate liquid
crystal devices with electrodes made of graphene which show excellent
performance with a high contrast ratio. We also discuss the advantages of
graphene compared to conventionally-used metal oxides in terms of low
resistivity, high transparency and chemical stability